A Visit To Tree Of Life Nursery

A trip to Tree Of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano was well worth the drive:  I finally learned how to pronounce Matilija (ma-TEE-a-ha).  Sweet!
Tree Of Life is mainly a wholesaler of plants native to the drier regions of California, plus plants native to the Sonoran Desert.  The Sonoran Desert covers large parts of Arizona and California, and of Northwestern Mexico in Sonora, Baja California and Baja California Sur.  Tree of Life's customers are mainly landscape contractors, but it has a small retail unit as well.
  
The Mantilija Poppy is the largest flower native to California:
 photo tol6704_zps4edab647.jpg
An enormous California Sycamore, estimated to be several centuries old, is a centerpiece of the property.  I had the wrong lens, and could only photograph a very small bit of it.  Tree of life, indeed!
 photo tol6711_zpsabde9f25.jpg 
 Oaks and Sycamores, the iconic trees of Southern California. 
 photo tol6669_zps42694378.jpg
 There's a clump of Mistletoe on the Sycamore:
 photo tol6679_zps6ad46517.jpg
Oak trunk:
 photo tol6723_zps6710e4dc.jpg
It's not a "garden center".  It's a plant nursery.
 photo tol6674_zpsb4e9f857.jpg
Plants grown from seed:
 photo tol6726_zpsb79be2a3.jpg
Plants grown from cuttings:
 photo tol6743_zpsebd92a06.jpg
  
 photo tol6736_zps9551ac4d.jpg  
Fallugia paradoxa, Apache Plume:
 photo tol6686_zpsbe8aa588.jpg    
 Supervisor on duty:
 photo tol6728_zps2b560265.jpg
Boxed Brahea armatas:
 photo tol6734_zps9468e5c7.jpg 

 photo tol6713_zps2ae44ea6.jpg 
Now, some of the plants that were for sale:
Mimulus:
 photo tol6692_zps6ddd8c8c.jpg   
 Verbena lilacia:
 photo tol6689_zpsdca2607a.jpg
 Penstemon centranthifolia:
 photo tol6698_zpsa4deac96.jpg 
Trichostema lanatum:
 photo tol6695_zpsa242c818.jpg 
Did you know there is a native Lonicera?
 photo tol6761_zps31eb101e.jpg 
Salvia apiana:
 photo tol6771_zps42ee975e.jpg 
Calliandra...californica?  Surprisingly showy.
 photo tol6775_zps085e3e17.jpg 
Bouteloua gracilis 'Blonde Ambition' grass--very photogenic.
 photo tol6773_zps303fdb93.jpg 
Lysiloma watsonii, Small riparian tree found south and southeast of Tucson AZ:
 photo tol6691_zpse79047e7.jpg 
Cupressus montana, San Pedro Martír Cypress.  I have one of these.  Mine isn't so large--yet.  
 photo tol6675_zps8f3e48ba.jpg 
Erigeron 'Bountiful':
 photo tol6769_zpsdaa3504e.jpg 
The nursery was alive with birds.  

Western Bluebirds were nesting right by the office door, paying little attention to all the people milling around staring at them while they went back and forth, back and forth feeding their hatchlings.   You could here the baby birds peeping whenever Mom or Dad brought food, which was constantly.  My camera was not quick enough--it caught only Dad's tail as he entered the bluebird house:
 photo tol6766_zps3db41125.jpg

 photo tol6765_zps7a5e3e6e.jpg
There was an enormous Western Scrub Jay by the entrance, the largest I have ever seen.  Could not get a good shot.  
 photo tol6680_zps3bbac178.jpg
His smaller companion was observing from a spent Agave flower stem:
 photo tol6682_zps390b0fe6.jpg
All in all, fun for the plant lover.  Lovely place +
 photo tol6678_zpsea4972d3.jpg
cool plants at good prices = 
 photo tol6751_zpsa7df8693.jpg  
great visit!
 photo tol6709_zpsc414f081.jpg
  

Comments

  1. Great photos too, Hoov. So many interesting plants. I love the white edge on that Mimulus.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes that Mimulus was very striking.

      Delete
  2. I always love a little help with pronunciation. Now if I can just remember it. Is it the same thing as Roneya coulterii?
    Nice shot of 'Blonde Ambition'. It's been on my wish list but whenever it shows up someone always beats me to the punch (it seems to be very popular).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So many plant names I've only read, never heard spoken--when I hear them I think, "Oh! So that's how to pronounce that!"

      Delete
  3. One of my favorite nurseries! Visit again when the Vitis californica clusters are ripe :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Always interested in your thoughts.

Any comments containing a link to a commercial site with the intent to promote that site will be deleted. Thank you for your understanding on this matter.